Porgy and Bess

1959
A
2h 18m

IMDb RATING

YOUR RATING

Sidney Poitier, Sammy Davis Jr., and Dorothy Dandridge in Porgy and Bess (1959)

A woman whose past is scorned by nearly everyone around her meets a man who'd love her regardlessly - if only everyone else would allow them to.A woman whose past is scorned by nearly everyone around her meets a man who'd love her regardlessly - if only everyone else would allow them to.A woman whose past is scorned by nearly everyone around her meets a man who'd love her regardlessly - if only everyone else would allow them to.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

6.9/10

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Won 1 Oscar
- 4 wins & 10 nominations total

Photos25

+ 18

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Storyline

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Did you know

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Trivia
Sidney Poitier's singing voice was dubbed by opera singer Robert McFerrin (father of pop singer, classical conductor, and composer Bobby McFerrin).

Quotes
Porgy: Thank god. Thank god.
Bess: I've been sick, ain't I?
Porgy: You've been very sick. Now, I've got you back.

Alternate versions
Although this film has never been officially released on any home media format, numerous bootleg copies, running 115 minutes, are available on VHS and DVD-R. The full-length original version runs 138 minutes, not including overture and entr'acte music.

Connections
Featured in Biography: Dorothy Dandridge: Little Girl Lost (1999)

Soundtracks
Summertime
Music by George Gershwin
Lyrics by DuBose Heyward
Sung by Loulie Jean Norman and Women's Chorus

User reviews68

Featured review

10/10

Should be available to the public.

I saw this movie when I was a kid and have been looking for it ever since.It rates up there with Cabin in The Sky, Stormy Weather and Carmen Jones as a must see in movies that showcased the awesome talent of African Americans.In the 60s the local Los Angeles TV stations would have a movie of the week and some stations would show the same movie for 5 days.Porgy and Bess was one of them and my whole family would be there all 5 nights in front of the TV and only moved on the commercials.South Pacific,Oklahoma and The Sound of Music are all musical classics that you can pick up at any video store. It would be a shame to let this collection of some of the best talent America had to offer be forgotten or locked in a vault.Please make the film available to the public.